PORTLAND, Ore. – The Seattle U Redhawks capitalized on five Portland errors and held on for a 5-3 victory in Monday's series finale at Joe Etzel Field. The Redhawks claimed the series win after the teams split a doubleheader on Sunday to open the season.
Jake Tsukada went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and Jake Holcroft belted his second home run of the young season for the Pilots (1-2). Chad Stevens also collected two hits on the day.
Despite out-hitting Seattle U by a 12-5 margin, the Pilots were unable to string together rallies and the errors came back to bite the home team.
The Redhawks (2-1) opened the scoring with a two-run homer Connor O'Brien in the third. Holcroft, who hit a grand slam in Portland's 7-0 win on Sunday, answered with a solo shot to deep right field in the bottom half of the inning.
The Pilots tied it in the fifth with a two-out single up the middle by Briley Knight scoring Ethan Smith, who led off the inning with a single.
Seattle U picked up two more runs in the top of the seventh sparked by a leadoff double from Grant Heiser. A throwing error on a sacrifice bunt brought in the first run and Gavin Rork added an RBI single to give the Redhawks a 4-2 edge.
Portland mustered a two-out rally in the eight to cut the deficit in half. Hunter Montgomery doubled down the left field line and Tsukada brought him home with a single to center. Seattle U handed the ball to closer Lucas Ford who got a foul out to end the inning.
The Pilots were fortunate to allow just one run in the ninth after committing three errors and would bring the tying run to the plate with two outs, but the game ended when Andrew Haight cut down Holcroft attempting to steal second base.
Ford picked up his second save in as many days for Seattle U. Brady Liddle earned the win out of the bullpen for the Redhawks with 2.2 innings in relief of Nestor German. The SU starter went 5.0 innings and gave up seven hits while striking out three.
Peter Allegro took the loss for the Pilots after surrendering two runs (one earned) and recorded four strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work. UP starter Caleb Franzen tossed 4.1 inning, allowed two runs and struck out five.
The Pilots will return to action with a three-game series at UC Davis next week. The teams meet for a doubleheader on Sunday starting at 11:30 a.m. and conclude the series on Monday at 1 p.m.
